The Georgia Ports Authority posted strong growth in the first two months of fiscal 2013, executive director Curtis Foltz told his board Monday.

“All reporting categories experienced year-on-year increases for August and for the fiscal year to date,” Foltz said at the GPA’s October meeting in Brunswick.

The fiscal year began July 1.

In July and August, overall tonnage was up 5.6 percent for a throughput of more than 4.5 million tons of cargo.

In tandem with the strong growth in tonnage, rail cargo also saw a boost, with more than 29,000 intermodal moves making August a record month for the GPA.

The Port of Savannah handled more than 520,000 twenty-foot containers – or TEUs — over the first nine weeks, a growth of 4.4 percent. August accounted for more than 270,000 TEUs, making it the GPA’s second highest month for boxes, behind only October, 2010.

“Our deepwater ports achieved a good start for fiscal year 2013, despite a slow national economy,” Foltz said. “The ports of Savannah and Brunswick have established solid momentum to start our fiscal year, which translates into increased jobs and economic opportunities throughout our region.”

Foltz attributed the growth to a slowly improving economy combined with the supply chain advancing shipments in anticipation of a possible dockworkers strike on the East Coast.

Negotiations between members of the International Longshoremen’s Association and management stalled in August, with a strike looming Oct. 1. A last-minute extension pushed that deadline to Jan.1, but some shippers had already adjusted their schedules to get holiday goods in earlier, while some others diverted their cargo to the West Coast.

Those diversions have Foltz calling for a slower September and October – traditionally the busiest months for import container volumes - with a return to normal by November.

Export volumes remain robust, he said; however, a slowing China economy could have a dampening effect.

The Port of Brunswick also saw significant gains, posting a 48 percent growth in total tonnage for August and a 30 percent growth for the fiscal year to date.

Colonel’s Island Terminal moved nearly 110,000 auto and machinery units in July and August, up 37 percent over fiscal 2012.

In other GPA news, the board:

• Approved spending $750,000 for renovations to Brunswick’s East River Terminal in support of growing biomass exports used as alternative energy sources, largely to European markets.

• Approved a $1.33 million expenditure to extend Garden City Terminal’s energy-saving lighting system to berths 7. 8 and 9.

• Gave an OK for expenditures of up to $650,000 to upgrade the refrigerated container service area at Berth 8.

ABOUT GPA

Georgia’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support more than 352,000 jobs throughout the state annually, contributing $18.5 billion in income, $66.9 billion in revenue and $2.5 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. The Port of Savannah was the second-busiest U.S. container port for the export of American goods by tonnage in fiscal 2011, handling 12.5 percent of all U.S, containerized exports.